Definition of allusion

1. Definition of Allusion Allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers. It is just a passing comment and the writer expects the reader to possess enough knowledge to spot the allusion and grasp its importance in a text.

2. Examples of Allusion in Everyday Speech The use allusions are not confined to literature alone. Their occurrence is fairly common in our daily speech. Look at some common examples of allusions in everyday life: “Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” – “Romeo” is a reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet, in “ Romeo and Juliet ”.

3. Examples of Allusion in Literature Example #1 Milton’s “Paradise Lost” gives allusions a fair share. Look at the example from Book 6 below: “ All night the dread less Angel unpursu’d Through Heav’ns wide Champain held his way, till Morn, Wak’t by the circling Hours, with rosie hand Unbarr’d the gates of Light. There is a Cave Within the Mount of God, fast by his Throne” In the above lines“dread less Angel” is a reference to “ Abdiel ”, a fearless angel. “ Circling Hours” alludes to a Greek Myth “The Horae ”, the daughters of “ Zeus” and “ Themis ” namely “ Thallo (Spring), Auxo (Summer) and Carpo (Fall). “ With rosie hand” Milton refers to Homer’s illustration of the “rosy fingered dawn ” (Odyssey Book 2).

4. Example # 2 Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” is replete with instances of allusions. Read the example from Act III below: “ Learnèd Faustus, to find the secrets of astronomy Graven in the book of Jove’s high firmament , Did mount him up to scale Olympus’ top , Where , sitting in a chariot burning bright , Drawn by the strength of yokèd dragons’ necks, He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars.” “ Jove’s high firmament” refers to the outer stretches of the universe. “ Olympus’ top” is an allusion to Greek Mythology where Mount Olympus is home of gods . Similarly , “a chariot burning bright” refers to a Greek Myth of “god Apollo” who is said to drive the sun in his chariot.

5. Example #3 In Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness ”, “the two knitting women ” whom Marlow sees alludes to “ Moirae ” or Fates as visualized in Greek Mythology: “ The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care” The thread they knit represents human life. The two women knitting black wool foreshadows Marlow’s horrific journey in the “Dark Continent”.

6. Example #4 We find a number of allusions in Keats’s “Ode to the Grecian Urn ” . “ Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our  rhyme : What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady ?” “ Sylvan” is a goat-like-man deity of Greek mythology. “ Tempe” alludes to the “Vale of Tempe” in Greece, a place (from Greek mythology ) frequently visited by Apollo and other gods. Likewise, “the dales of Arcady” refers to the home of “Pan”, the god of rustic music.

7. Yet Do I Marvel . BY  countee cullen I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind, And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind,    Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die, Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare    If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus To struggle up a never-ending stair.    Inscrutable His ways are, and immune    To catechism by a mind too strewn    With petty cares to slightly understand    What awful brain compels His awful hand.    Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:    To make a poet black, and bid him sing!